First Birthday Party - What did you do?

[cocococo]

Help! I need ideas for a first Birthday Party for DS and I'd love to know what you did for your little ones. He only has a few friends (poor boy) and it is getting to be more a party for the adults but I'd like to have a really special day for him. I know he won't remember it but hopefully he'll look at the photos in years to come and see the effort we put in.
At the moment we're planning to chuck a few bangers on the BBQ - not really special heh!

We just had family round and a big cake. To be honest it's more a day for you to celebrate the fact that you have survived the past 365 days!! To many people or friends and you'll all end up stressed. Just make sure you get pictures of him destroying the cake!

You could do a teddy bears picnic "theme" for the kids, i.e.bring a teddy and sit around a rug! As well as the BBQ for the adults. Agree with Willow2 about it being more the fact you've made it this far so why not get some Champagne in?!

Cocococo, never had a first birthday for dd as we had just had her christened the month before which was sort of a joint affair. If the other children attending are of various ages the older ones always like a bouncy castle - we had one at dd's christening and it went down well. My friend's ds had a first birthday party with an entertainer who did baloons and bubbles and stuff but again there was a mixed bunch of ages. Her ds was a bit overwhelmed with the day and cried alot so maybe something small and low key is better.

We had a first birthday party for dd, but kept it small. Only a few other children, their parents (our friends) and all the grandparents. Only about 16 guests in all. We kept it pretty low key - opening presents, playing with balloons and eating cake was more than enough entertainment for dd, plus we had some music and a couple of rounds of pass the parcel for the slightly older children. And kept the whole thing to 2 hours. No bouncy castles or clowns, but everyone had fun and there was not a tear in sight, so I would call it a success.

A BBQ is a great idea! We did just that on our dd's first birthday. We invited family round for the first half of the barbie, in the afternoon, and friends came later on for an adult chill-out session. Everyone who came was asked to donate some money to the charity I work for instead of, or as well as, dd's birthday gift, as she already had lots of toys and clothes and didn't have a clue what was going on anyway. We raised £150 and sent it off on dd's behalf to the abandoned children in China. Therefore it was nice to think that other children benefitted from her birthday too, and it will be nice to tell her that when she gets older.

If the weather is nice, you could put a paddling pool outside and/or a sandpit for the kiddies to play in. A BBQ is nice and informal and gives everyone a chance to relax and enjoy themselves.

Hope it turns out great whatever you decide to do.